Blog connects kids to nature

Thirty Salem middle school students learned about natural science and ecology while visiting the city’s natural sites and shared what they learned with the world.

The group of Bowditch and Collins Middle School students participated in the Expanding Horizons after school program, based at the Collins Middle School, this past year. They chose the twice-weekly section called Outdoor Science Adventure and took field trips all over the city to sites many of them had never visited before.

They got to experience the natural world close to home and blogged about what they found and thought. Their blog is like a Salem tourist site with a compendium of beautiful photos and comments about Forest River Park, Forest River Conservation Area, Salem Maritime Historic Site, Gallows Hill Park and Winter Island.

They even explored Collins Wood, located behind Collins Middle School, where they were tasked with building a shelter out of materials they found in the forest.

Alicia, 11, who will be in seventh grade next year, said that she enjoyed going on field trips and “finding all of the things.” Her favorite trip was to Forest River Conservation Area where she loved getting to explore the woods.

“It was my favorite, because there’s a lot of stuff in the woods that you can find out like plants, animals. We found a tadpole. Then we learned how to catch a fish,” she said.

Alicia had never been in the woods before, but she’s caught the bug for hiking in the woods again.

Alicia said that she had fun in the program learning new things and meeting friends. She also enjoyed working on the blog.

“It’s fun because there’s certain people that don’t know what Salem is. People from around the world can find out,” she said, adding that she had never blogged before, but checks out YouTube.

Owen Young, also a seventh grader next year, said that Forest River Park was his favorite site, because it had something for visitors of all ages – the river, beaches, playground, an area for picnicking and Pioneer Village, a recreation of a 17th century fishing village.

Kestrel Educational Adventures, an environmental education organization from Gloucester, runs the program. According to Jessica Kagle, Kestrel’s founder and director, the after school program follows the service learning model, which offers students like Alicia and Owen leadership opportunities.

“Each student takes on different jobs -- editor, photographer, safety (which involves keeping a head count on field trips), equipment manager and sketch artists,” Kagle said. We give them all different avenues to find their strengths in the team. Students receive peer review of their blog posts.”

Kestrel Educational Adventures has been providing environmental education in the Salem Public Schools for a decade. They take elementary students out to look at vernal pools in addition to the middle school program. Expanding Horizons is funded by a 21st Century grant from the Massachusetts Department of Education.

Kagle said that she noticed a lot of interest and investment of the middle school students as a result of having created the blog. “The program connected to things that students are interested in – media and communicating with their peers.”

Ironically, according to Kagle, at the beginning of the class, many of the students didn’t think that there was anything fun to do in Salem. They know differently now.

IN THEIR OWN WORDS

Here are some of the students’ impressions of the places that they visited as shared on their blog “Wild Salem Adventures.” You can visit the blog at https://wildsalemadventures.wordpress.com. The photos are terrific!

Gina: My favorite thing about this program has been going on mini field trips…. I really loved the Saturday Field Trip, we did so much fun things there like playing the games and climbing. My favorite game was Elbow tag, it’s super fun…. I also liked building my shelter with Guelmi, Inavi and Lindsey. We had a lot of fun building it. We had to make like 564198 shelters cause our first one had a big spider and we didn’t know were it was so we didn’t stay. Then our second one collapsed, so we were getting really aggravated. Then our THIRD one, the branches kept on falling but Guelmi ended up keeping them up. So we stayed with that one plus it had a lot of shade so we were good :). It looked very nice.

Forest River Conservation Area

Anonymous: We caught a fish it was very small and cute.

Clay: At the conservation area there was a lot of mud but plenty to see. The nature walks were short but lasting. And the air was amazing especially up near the water. When we got to the creek we walked past a big marsh with the most soothing sound of water crashing on the small shore. Past the marsh was a big area of mud that wasn’t too grand at first but once we got are boots on it was really fun. A little past the mud pools there was a handmade bridge surrounded by running water and fish…. The Forest River Conservation was really fun and we all had a great time. If you are bringing a group or just looking for a nice place to take a quick walk I would highly recommend it at whatever age you are at!

Lindsey: The Forest River Conservation Area was a very muddy yet fun day for people and we got to explore new things. We got to see amazing views on the top of a hill. We walked through muddy trails as well as water. Some people caught a fish called a mummichug with a minnow trap and it looked very cool. Hopefully you go there one day and have fun like we did.

Forest River Park

Marcus: Many people know about Forest River Park, but do you know all of the fun things you can do? You can go beachcombing, hiking and swimming!!

Owen: you should go to Forest River Park. It has a playground for the kids, a pool, and a beach for everyone, and very beautiful trees. I hope I get to go again.

Inavi: Let’s go! I think people should go to Forest River because they have a pool, a baseball field, and you can go to the park and just walk around. If you want to you can go in the woods or the beach.

Erin: I had fun in Forest River. I went on the swings at the park and I went to the beach, then learned new things at the beach. This is the best field trip ever.